'THOUGHT I'D DIE'

BOOZER LOSERS

The duo say Tom reapplied the Boots cream to her back every 45 minutes and claim to have used it three times on the now-scorched spot.

Melissa was in such discomfort the following day she couldn’t bear to have any tight clothing touching her burnt back and travelled on the flight back to Birmingham braless wearing one of Tom’s loose-fitting t-shirts.

Melissa rushed to A&E when she returned home on May 24 and says a nurse confirmed she had second-degree burns and hundreds of blisters, which were at risk of infection.

Melissa said: “It was probably for the best that I couldn’t see it. I think I was just scared of what I was going to see. I was so worried I waited until I got home.

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Melissa was staying at her sister’s in Gran Canaria

“I was horrified when I saw it, it looked disgusting. I was thinking ‘my God, I’m going to be scarred because it’s that deep’. I was just worried it would be like that forever.

“Being engaged I was thinking ‘will I be able to have the backless dress that I want when I get married?’

“I’m thinking in the long term and how it could have ruined my special day.

“I have freckles and moles – I didn’t really remember having them before but I’ve been paying more attention to them now.”

Furious Melissa said she contacted Boots to complain when she returned home to demand the product be removed from the shelves – but was only offered £25-worth of advantage points.

Melissa also claims she was told no further action could be taken as she no longer had the bottle.

Melissa says she has now been left with a number of blisters and moles

“When my mum said they would only offer me advantage points, little did I know she was right.

“When someone from Boots rang me back they asked if I had the bottle. I told them no as I couldn’t bring it back through airport security.

“I was told if I didn’t have the bottle they couldn’t investigate it. I’ve done my research and it’s happened to a lot of people.

“I’m really disgusted with Boots. It’s not as if I wanted anything from them, I just want them to do something about the product.

“I want them to take it off the shelves because if it happened to my stepdaughter I would be absolutely furious.”

Melissa had to have the bandages changed daily by Tom and relied on a cocktail of anti-histamines, ibuprofen and paracetamol for pain relief.

She said: “To be honest I was just disappointed. I had gone away for this relaxing break and I wasn’t refreshed – I felt ten times worse than when I went.”

“I would have rather stayed at home.”

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Boots has said its products are “rigorously and independently tested”

A Boots UK spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear about this incident. We take the safety and well being of our customers very seriously and the quality and safety of our products is of the utmost importance to us.

“We have always been committed to protecting our customers’ skin from the sun and our products are rigorously and independently tested to ensure they are safe and effective.

“In hot sunny conditions like the ones we are forecast to experience over the coming days, may we remind customers to always follow safe sun guidelines by minimising time in the sun, seeking shade and using a cover-up, ensuring they use the correct strength sun protection for their skin type and the climate in which it will be used, as well as following the instructions for use.”